Modern aircraft, such as those used by commercial airlines, use In Flight Entertainment (IFE) management systems to manage the distribution of data and multimedia content to various aircraft systems, and monitor consumption of digital video and other content. In addition, IFE systems manage distribution of these assets within the aircraft and transfer of data and content to and from the IFE. This is currently done with a device known as a Portable Data Loader (PDL), which is a notebook computer manually carrier onboard an aircraft and synchronized, typically with a wired connection, with the IFE system.
Unfortunately, these PDL systems have a number of drawbacks, including significant costs, lack of real time transmission and update capabilities, lack of distribution flexibility, lack of remote communication with aircraft tracking systems, as well as other disadvantages. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved systems for distributing multimedia content to aircraft.